The actual answer is to set your wake up time, and go to bed when you’re sleepy, whenever that is.
Just get up at the same time each day (no snooze alarm, get out of bed, else you might be less sleepy at the end of the day) and you’re half-way there.
Figuring out how long you actually need to sleep is a process involving changing how long you try to sleep for. (So if you set your wakeup time at 7AM, maybe try 11PM) Taking note of how long it takes to get to sleep and if you wake up during the night. (Not sleepy, taking too long at 11PM, then go to bed at 11:30PM for multiple nights and see if you’re sleeping through more. Sleeping quickly and through the night, but still feeling tired after many nights on average, maybe try a bit more sleep instead)
Never try to go to bed early when you’re not sleepy, it won’t work.
Also accept that your sleep quality is going to vary from night to night, that’s life.
As recommended by a sleep psychologist (not me).
Or option 3, don’t sleep for a day, then instead of going to bed when you planned you zone out for 6 hours
Yep, this is me. Hold out till around 3 or 4, when that afternoon post-lunch nap wave hits. Out cold in a microsecond.
“Sleeping early” ha, no such thing. Just setting yourself up to stare at the ceiling.
We’re supposed to force ourselves to get up still dead tired instead even if we didn’t get much and “eventually” says the doctor, “you will get tired enough to sleep on time”. LIES. ALL LIES.
Yep, that’s what I was told every time I brought up my sleep issues. Yeah, it’s been a few decades and surprise it’s never worked. Overtired me tends to be awake for longer. And then when I eventually crash, because it is inevitable, I crash HARD and sleep for 10+ hours completely dead to the world. Thankfully so far I haven’t slept through anything super important. I can only go to sleep quickly if I run myself absolutely ragged.
Same. My brain doesn’t want to sleep “early” even if I have gone all week on less than 3 hrs each night, and waking early is pure hell. But staying up and then letting my crash hit at a time I know I will then wake when I -want- to is almost trivial if nobody interferes.
Yep, like just like everything else, not everything works for everyone. I’ve been awake for 26+ hours to the point I’m hallucinating and still unable to fall asleep. But apparently I just have to wait till I’m tired enough. As if being awake for 26 hours straight isn’t enough? I also can generally make it so I can be awake at the right time if left to my own devices. Which is why I’m really glad I’m out of my parents house, because they would decide “you’ve been sleeping long enough” and wake me up an hour after I fell asleep.
I read somewhere people with ADHD often have either a delayed circadian rhythm or one thats longer than 24 hours. No amount of pigeonholing life into the usually prevalent circadian rhythms is going to fix that I think.
Startup idea: We slow down the earth’s rotation to adhere to these longer cycles.
I feel called out
I’m doing the right side thing right now. I am the night.
